s1.e9

Playground Rules

           The following school day, the doors to recess opened amid uncommonly cloudy weather. The slight reprieve from the heat was nice, yet it was so overcast that kids felt less compelled to run around excitedly—and it wasn’t like they did that very often to begin with anymore at their age. It was going to be one of those days where everyone found a spot with a friend or two and did little more than chat, Jace assumed.

           Wessy and his buddies ran off on their own right away, so it looked like they would be ignoring Jace today. Or possibly forever, for all he knew. He couldn’t stand in the middle of the playground looking alone and dumb, so he got to searching for a spot.

           He first tried out the top of the centerpiece play fort, where he rested against the shaded bars of the tower and watched the other kids go by. Two girls he recognized from his class walked past, both of them overly cheerful and polite with one another.

           “I just love your new Lisa Frank shirt, Trudy! It’s so rainbowy!”

           “Thanks, Tammy!” her friend replied with a giggle. “You should buy one so we can be Lisa Frank twins. I saw a shirt with a unicorn, but Mom only let me get one…”

           “Well, you should get your hair cut like mine until then, then we can at least be hair twins. Oh, but your sneakers are so much cuter than mine…”

           “What are you talking about, Tam? Mine don’t even light up like yours do.”

           Jace gagged. How could anyone still act so sickeningly sweet at this age? Maybe it was their close relationship; they were locked into a cute competition spiral. Gross.

           “Hey, Jason!” Wessy suddenly called out from below. “We were lookin’ for ya! Come on, I want to show you a cool place. The others are waiting!”

           Jace didn’t bother asking, and took the slide back down to meet him and Sadie.

           Tamatha and Trudy were still nearby, and their saccharine attitudes had clearly taken a hit. The two of them might as well have come from a different world than Sadie and Wes, and they looked disgusted just being within ten feet of the pair.

           “Jace, man, you hanging out with Tam and The Trudes now?” Wessy asked.

           “What? No. I was just… wandering around, looking for a hang spot.”

           “Oh, I gotcha there. Come on, you need to check out The Dump. I just had to make sure it was cool if a new kid goes to it. You got the all-clear.”

           “What the heck is The Dump?”

           “It’s overrated,” Sadie replied with a shrug and sigh. “I don’t really like the place. I mean, I get that some kids want a hideaway, but how do you get used to the smell?”

           “The… smell? Oh God, Wes, you don’t hang out with a bunch of others inside a school dumpster or something, do you?”

           If that were true, Jace would have to seriously reconsider how cool his uncle actually was. But Wessy just laughed at the remark before responding.

           “No, dude. We’re not that desperate. But it is a secret club. You’ll like it.”

           “Only losers and bad kids like that trash heap, Wes,” Trudy interjected.

           “Yeah,” Tamatha added. “Hey, new kid—don’t let him boss you around. Your parents would be really upset if they knew you played with a bunch of troublemakers.”

           “Shut up, Tamatha,” Wessy retorted. “As if we actually even ‘play’ there.”

           “Why are you friends with a bunch of stinky boys that like to go digging around in trash, Sadie?” Trudy asked her judgmentally. “You’re just as bad as they are.”

           Hands on her hips, Sadie fired back, “Why don’t you two get married already?”

           “See ya later, Sade,” Wessy said after another laugh.

           As Sadie ignored Trudy, who was immaturely sticking her tongue out at her, she gave Wes a little wave before heading over towards Ash, chilling out on a swing.

           “Trudes and Tam have been best friends since, like, preschool,” Wessy explained. “And… I don’t think they have any other friends. They’re kinda gross, just by being the complete opposite of gross. If you insult one, then they both come after you.”

           “I’ll do my best to avoid them. But what is this Dump, anyway?”

           “A place I’m glad I can finally go to! It’s an awesome club for fifth-graders only.”

           “I’m guessing you have to be a cool fifth-grader to get in, also.”

           “Well, no. But it doesn’t hurt.”

           Wessy stopped at the edge of the playground, close to the bike racks just past the side of the main building. He waited for the old recess monitor to look another way, and then slipped into the small “alley” between the brick wall and chain-link bicycle cage.

           The pungent smell of garbage and tossed lunches was quickly noticeable, but that didn’t deter those who had come to the locale and filled the stinky air with chatter.

           Around fifteen kids from different classes were hanging out, among and behind a big green dumpster. Guarding the entrance was Delilah, arms crossed and looking mean.

           “Yo, D’. I’m back,” Wes said. “Brought the new kid. Zach says he can come in.”

           Delilah sized up Jace, who tried to keep a straight face and his legs from shaking.

           “All right. Fine,” she said with a sigh. “If Zach says he’s good. But he better not bring down the vibe. I’m taking this job as seriously as my predecessors.”

           “Predecessor…” Wessy thought for a moment. “Oh, yeah. All the kids that came before you, right? Okay. That’s cool. Uh, come on in, Jason.”

           “Delilah? She’s your, uh… guard?” Jace asked as they cross an invisible threshold.

           She overheard him and responded fervently, “Hey. It pays a quarter a day.”

           Wessy added, “Bouncer. As long as she doesn’t start beating us up, she can stay.”

           The roofless clubhouse even had a few posters taped to the walls, and while most of the kids seemed to mostly just be talking to one another, Park was also there selling his wares, and some kind of game was being cheered on in the corner, next to a locked gate that must’ve only been opened when the dumpster needed emptying.

           Jace couldn’t really comprehend why so many kids would voluntarily gather near a smelly garbage box, but it was “neat” that they had a hangout. This place didn’t exist in the version of the school he knew—not even a hint of it. He recalled that the space no longer even held any trash. Maybe it became the principal’s parking space or something?

           No matter the mask they wore to appease teachers, these kids chugged Yoohoo chocolate drinks, chewed toothpicks, and leaned up against hard surfaces to try and look tough or apathetic. Wessy’s gang, sans Sadie, were all present. Unsurprisingly, it was mostly boys. The only girl present from Jace’s class was Felicity, a blonde-haired pretty young lady he knew little about, who looked like she had come right of a pageant.

           Yet, she didn’t really fit in, and there was something… sinister behind her smile.

           “I don’t know why Felicity’s here,” Wessy whispered to Jace. “She’s… weird.”

           She also appeared to be enjoying—a little too much—one of those Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. Jace felt a chill when she looked up and their eyes briefly met.

           “Yo, it’s the new kid,” Carson said as he swayed funkily to the beats coming out of his headphones. “Are ya stunned by the club? We’re new to it too, man. Can’t believe we finally made it. The last fifth-graders, like, made The Dump sound legendary.”

           “Uh… yeah… I can’t believe it, either.” Jace turned to Wessy and quietly asked, “Really? Aren’t you at least a little disappointed?”

           He shook his head. “What are you talking about? This is great! I would’a gone yesterday, but it was packed. Bunch of other kids beat us to it.”

           Park slid up to the two and regaled, “That sucks; ya missed something amazing. You know that giant kid with muscles, Hutch? I guess he was the bouncer last year, but he got held back and wanted to do it again. Was here a full five minutes before Big D’ over there came in like she owned the place and scared him off. It was great.”

           Jace saw a proud little smirk appear on Delilah’s otherwise stony face.

           “This doesn’t make any sense,” Jace noted. “All of the grades go to recess at their own time. There would’ve been no one here to guard the place while the fifth-graders were in class. What was stopping you from coming here last year?”

           “Your new friend’s a thinker, Wes. Eh, it’s always been like that, ever since The Dump got founded some ten years ago. The owner keeps all the younger kids away, since fourthies and under have ‘no self-control’ and will ‘probably’ blab about it.”

           “Wait, none of the adults at the school know about this place?”

           “Nope, they’ve never found out. And our new owner wants to keep it that way. He makes sure that the lower grade kids all know that we will find out if they break the rule, it will lead to something called ‘mutually assured destruction,’ and we’ll all lose the place. He’s not about to be the successor that ends this hideout.”

           Wes asked, “So, who is the owner?”

           “He’s, um… out in the field today. Maybe he’ll come visit sometime.”

           So, a Great Gatsby situation, where the party host never actually showed up. Jace remembered reading that book for his class during his first stab at fifth grade.

           “Hey, bros!” Zach said as he came over. “Jason, right? Grab yourself a drink.”

           Jace watched as Zach pulled himself up the side of the dumpster, reached in, and took out a rusty bucket full of ice, bottles of Yoohoos, and various soda cans. Jace did look at what was on offer, but then grimaced and shook his head.

           “It’s okay, dude. It’s clean. It’s just tossed out week-old lunchroom ice.”

           “I’m not… really thirsty.”

           “Hey, Wes, I think I’m gonna bounce,” Colin said from his best friend’s side. “It was cool finally seeing this place, but close up… I don’t think it’s very hygienic.”

           “Aw, Colin. If you leave now, you might never be let back in,” Wessy worried.

           He shrugged. “I think I’m okay with that. See ya.” He headed out and waved to everyone on the way, including Delilah. “Keep up the good work, ‘D.”

           “That kid sometimes…” Wes sighed.

           Jace was more on Colin’s side; he was certain that his mom had not hung out here, and would hardly approve of him doing it either, or even knowing about it.

           “What’s going on in that corner, anyway?” Jace asked regardless.

           “Pogs game, man,” Zach replied. “Wright’s a master at it. Good guy to bet on.”

           “Wait, you actually play a game with those Pog cap things?”

           “Yeah, of course,” Wes said. “What, do you only collect them or something?”

           Jace shrugged and followed the others to the back right corner of the alley near the gate, which seemed to be the seediest place at school. Here, kids played contraband Game Boys and showed off yoyo tricks under taped-up cartoon show and PG-13 movie posters, as the modern-day incarnation of the game of marbles happened in the center.

           Wright, the shortest boy in Jace’s class, looked like he was in his element. His rad shades hid the intensity in his eyes, but his facial muscles hinted at the deep level of focus needed for what he was about to do. Jace waited to find out what exactly that was.

           His competitor was a boy from another class, who watched nervously as Wright brought down a large metal coin onto a colorful stack of Pogs. The pillar of cardboard characters exploded, with discs flying in all directions. Looking pleased, Wright scooped up a bunch and added them to one of the many translucent tubes at his side.

           “Aw, man, you’re cheating,” the ‘loser’ accused. “Your slammer has to be over the weight limit or something. That ain’t right.”

           “Sorry dude, you knew what was gonna happen.”

           As some observers exchanged quarters, Jace dumbfoundedly asked Wes, “That’s all there is to it? You just… throw stuff at junk and steal all the other kids’ crap?”

           He laughed. “You’re funny. When you put it that way, it does sound stupid, but it’s really not. There’s a strategy to it. I mean, I guess there is. I mostly just watch.”

           Arthur, who had been waiting for his turn with a few others, stepped forward as the next victim; a stack of his own circles in hand and ready to go. He looked unfazed as he replaced the previous competitor, who got up to speak to Park.

           There was desperation in his voice, like he was pleading for help. Jace had seen this type of behavior in a few “gritty” movies before, where someone disheveled acted really weird around a guy who looked shady and was an acquaintance, but not really a friend. There was common dialogue from such scenes… Something about a “next hit?”

           “Park, h-hey, you gotta give me some more Pogs, man. Wright totally screwed me over. But I can beat him. I can keep my Pogs next time. Win back the old ones.”

           “Oh, all right,” Park sighed. “But they’ll cost you a dime each. I got a special going for a new set today, fresh off the rack. The character prints are generic, but—”

           “I don’t care, man. I’ll take Pogs with Barney the freakin’ dinosaur on them. I just need something. I can’t keep playing if I don’t got any at all!”

           Jace watched Park smirk, then reach into his big hoodie pockets and pull out a small stack of ten plastic-wrapped Pogs. Pogs with ninjas on them. Totally generic, very stereotypical, completely dressed-in-black ninjas from Japanese myth.

           “Maybe next time… you should invest in one of my slammers,” he suggested.

           “At three dollars each for them?” the kid blurted out as he handed over a buck. “You think I got money for blood? You’re crazy.”

           Jace continued staring at Park as strange realizations and thoughts came to mind.

           Park turned to him and chuckled. “Don’t tell anyone, but the special one I sold to Wright for ten bucks isn’t exactly… street-legal. But, hey, he helps me stay in business.”

           Jace smiled nervously, and then went to the cleaner wall opposite the dumpster, where a boy from his class with long brown hair was drawing on a pad of paper. As the others watched Wright and Arthur, he slid down to ponder, keeping his eyes on Park.

           It all suddenly made sense. Park already liked to dress up in hoodies, which his stalker also enjoyed. And he fit the height and build better, too.

           He imagined both Park and Millie, standing side by side. Then he put them both into homemade ninja outfits. Next, he pictured them both running around, jumping between buildings and climbing up trees and being invisible to everyone else in a crowd. And after all of this imagining was done, he visualized a scene where they came up to him, and removed their hoods. Park’s face reveal seemed to fit perfectly.

           But Millie struggled to take the mask off, knocked her glasses up her face, joked that she liked him, and then took out a notebook and started scribbling. Geez, really? He thought it was Millie at first? She would have given herself away when she put chicken scratch to pulp outside his bedroom window. Nah. She was just a different stalker.

           Park, on the other hand, literally carried around ninja Pogs—he probably left them at his crime scenes as calling cards or something. He also possessed the ability to sneak up out of nowhere and knew a lot about the “street,” wherever that was. Jace assumed this all meant he knew people and had a good sense of direction.

           “Hey,” the kid next to him murmured, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Can you stand up again over there? Uh. M-maybe that sounds rude, but I was drawing you.”

           “Huh? Drawing me? Are you an artist?”

           “K-kinda. I’m making a s-scene, and you’re in it,” he spoke with a slight stutter.

           “You’re… Brian, right? Can I look?”

           “Well. You might not ‘get’ it. My art isn’t f-for everyone. Even the art teacher said I was wasting my time last year… Buh… Because ‘video games aren’t art.’”

           “Okay, that’s not true. Try me.”

           Brian hesitated for a second before swinging his pad around. It was grid paper, filled with hundreds of tiny little squares. Many of them were filled—exquisitely so—with one of four different shades of graphite gray. Jace realized he was basically looking at pixel art that could be on a Game Boy screen. Brian had been making an overhead replica of The Dump itself, with its attendees appearing like video game characters.

           “Wow, that’s cool!” Jace said, and was so impressed that he temporarily forgot about Park. “It looks like an RPG or something. Even the dumpster looks really good.”

           “T-thanks, man. Other k-kids don’t think I can draw, be-because they think all I do is ‘fill in s-squares.’ I can draw. I j-just like making pixel art the mmm… most.”

           “Do you got a computer at home you do this stuff in full color with?”

           He shook his head. “Our computer is really old and only has a few colors. B-but I have Mario Paint on Super Nintendo. I like to use that. Pixels are… I really like pixels. Because you can only use… s-so many dots. You have to be creative.”

           “Yeah, I guess so. You play any other video games?”

           “Lots. RPGs are my favorite. And the graphics have g-gotten so good! T-they’re buh-beautiful. Sometimes I just explore the t-towns and talk to people. Final Fantasy III, Secret of Mana, and Earthbound­­—that’s a new one that takes place in our world, kinda. It’s really funny. A-and Chrono Trigger just came out a few months ago. It has a time traveling story and amazing graphics! I wanna design and make video games when I’m older.”

           “You should,” Jace said, now feeling something of a time-transcending kinship with this kid. “So… would you make an RPG about school, or recess or something?”

           “That would be neat. Anywhere in town would be cool. Even if there’s n-no fighting. Like, just walking, and talking to characters through d-dialogue boxes…”

           Jace realized that Brian, probably at least due in part to his minor stutter, was likely not a social butterfly. But if he liked to sit on the sidelines to watch and draw other kids in his own special way, and would make a video game about them all if he had the money and a company, maybe he was observant and knowledgeable about his peers.

           “You know anything about Park?” Jace suddenly asked as he looked out at him, selling a stack of Pogs to Arthur—who at least didn’t look like he needed them.

           “Millie probably knows l-lots… but she keeps that stuff to herself.”

           “Sure, but what about you? You must study all the others a bit, too. Like, okay, if Park was a class of character in a role-playing game, what would he be?”

           “Thief,” Brian answered without hesitation, and returned to drawing a 16-by-16-pixel Jace, even though he hadn’t gone back to ‘posing’ for him. “Definitely thief.”

           “He does like to take people’s money. And he sorta dresses like one. But what if he was a… oh, I dunno, like a ninja with a hoodie? One from the future, with armor?”

           “Hm. I could d-design him like one. These sheets have two hundred pixels, I mean squares… up and down and left and right. And I can do anything with t-them.”

           “Hey. New kid,” Jared’s voice suddenly screwed up a nice chat.

           Jace looked up to see him standing there, already looking a little agitated with his arms crossed. He turned towards Wes, chatting with Arthur, and waved him over.

           “What?” Jace fired off from the ground. “What now? I thought we were cool.”

           “We are pretty far from cool, man. Oh, and hey, Brian.”

           “D-did he do something b-bad?” he asked Jared. “He l-likes my art…”

           “That’s great, but he’s breaking the way things work.”

           “What’s up, J’?” Wes said once he had come over. “I was reading a GamePro.”

           “What’s up is this Connor kid being here in our club like he’s earned it.”

           “Really? Is that worth complaining about? Delilah let him in.”

           “That… that doesn’t matter! It’s her second day, so she’s probably got no idea what she’s doing yet. She’d probably let Millie in. I mean, even Creepy Felicity is here.”

           Jared evidently had no volume awareness, as both of the girls easily overheard his trash-talking and were now glowering at him from behind his back.

           Standing up to defend himself, Jace retorted, “What’s your problem, Jared?”

            “You haven’t earned this place. We waited five years to get in. You should have to wait, like… at least a month, and prove that you’re not some lame-o or total jerk first.”

           Look who’s talking, Jace thought. What was with Jared’s obsession with Jace having to prove himself, when he hadn’t even done anything, like “stealing” one of his friends? Sheesh, he’s insecure. Not only that, so what if he was new? He was still in fifth grade, right? For that matter, Jace had already served his time at this school, so he was practically a sixth-grader and more than earned his place in The Dump. But, no, Jared just had to keep being the biggest obstacle to his uncle’s already stupid scheme.

           His anger rising, Jace made a fist. I’m about to sock this guy popped into his head.

           “Jared, man, you gotta chill,” Wessy said in an unfittingly serious tone of voice. “I’m just trying to be nice to the new guy, show him how we party here, you know?”

           “But we don’t know anything about him! For all we know, he could be a… a spy for Miller. Or he’s working with Millie. Maybe that’s why she likes him so much.”

           Wessy laughed. “C’mon, dude. J. You’re talking crazy.”

           “I’m telling you—there’s something weird about him, Wes.”

           “Bullcrap. If you want to find out what he’s about, why don’t you try asking? Watch, it’s easy. Hey, Jace, tell us something about yourself.”

           Now wasn’t the time to stand there and think, so he shot out the first thing that came to mind and proudly stated, “My dad takes me to R-rated movies.”

           Wes looked impressed. “Whoa. Mine, too, sometimes. See, J? Kid’s got chops.”

           “I’m lucky if I can… see a P-PG-13…” Brian commented from below.

           “Aw, come on, that isn’t so special,” Jared argued. “My dad takes me to those all the time. We even saw Species. And… it didn’t mess me up that bad.”

           Jace wasn’t going to let Jared win this time. Feeling a rare confidence building up within him and surrounded by kids that were listening in and drifting closer, he knew this was the time to go in for the “kill” and see his uncle’s insane plan through.

           So, he crossed his arms and continued, “I can beat my dad in Super Mario World.”

           “Nice!” Wessy complimented. “I mean, yeah, I beat mine every time we play it, but it’s still cool getting to video game with your parents, right?”

           “Big deal!” Jared fought back. “That game is easy!”

           “My dad also makes me get a minimum of four hours of TV a day.”

           “Wait, what?” Arthur replied. “Makes you? And, like, as in… at least four hours?”

           Jared wasn’t backing down. “S-so? How does that make you cool? It sounds like we should, you know… let your dad hang out with us, not you.”

           Okay, Jace thought. Enough of this.

           He smirked and unleashed his ace in the hole, “One time, when my dad was taking me to Disneyland—for the third time that year,” he made that part up, “I saw a burning car on the side of the highway. It was totally on fire. Smoke everywhere.”

           This got even Zach to react with, “Holy crap, dude. What a wild life you have!”

           “Was anyone inside?” Felicity asked from the ground.

           Jace looked down and was creeped out by her big, empty eyes and scary smile.

           “I had no idea you were so wicked awesome, man!” Wessy was clearly thrilled. “You gotta tell us more. I always like a guy full of kick-ass stories.”

           “You kidding me, Wes?” Jared, now in full-blown angry mode, raged. “This kid got you under a spell? Just because Big Dumb Delilah let him in doesn’t mean…”

           He hadn’t noticed that she was now right behind him, until she tapped on his shoulder. He flipped around, and his fury was quickly replaced by a bout of jitters.

           “You got a problem with how I run things here, and who I let in?”

           “Uh, n-no, D’… It’s just… Well, this new kid keeps trying to—”

           “Don’t care. Get out of here.”

           “Hey, come on. I’m just—”

           Delilah’s right fist met her left palm with a frightening smack, shutting Jared down. Grumbling angrily as he did so, he sulked and left The Dump’s premises.

           “Sorry,” she said. “That behavior isn’t gonna fly on my watch. Jason, right?”

           “Y-yeah…?” Jace murmured back.

           “You don’t seem like a bad kid. Still, don’t get in my way when I’m off the clock.”

           Jace smiled as he felt Wessy’s arm wrap around his shoulders.

           “Oh, man! Jared got himself kicked out!” he said with a chortle.

           “Um. Is that my fault? Like… is he going to be mad?”

           “He had it coming. Man, what is with him lately?”

           “It doesn’t matter much,” Arthur said, checking his watch. “Delilah probably just wanted to kick someone out on her first real day. We close up shop here five minutes before the bell, anyway. Still, Jace… Maybe you really should hang out with us.”

           Indeed, the “Dumpsters,” if that’s what they went by, took down their posters, grabbed their gear, and dismantled the club so quickly that it vanished in thirty seconds.

           As everyone else left, Wessy spoke to Jace for a moment near the bike cage.

           “Jason, buddy. I think we should give you a chance to get in with us. We’ve been trying to find a replacement for our old ‘leader,’ Charlie. Now, um… that doesn’t mean we’re going to make you the boss or something. We could just use a seventh kid again.”

           Jace thought, Yes! Victory is close! and said, “Okay, I’m in! Or, uh, I want to be.”

           “Hold on. We can’t just do that. Jared would flip. You still have to earn it. If you don’t, he’s just going to keep bothering you… But if you do, then he’ll have to put up and shut up, or… Well, I really don’t want to cut ties with the guy,” he sighed.

           “So… what else do I have to do?”

           “Recess is almost over, but there should be time for some kind of showdown. I want you in our club, Jace.” Wes looked back at The Dump and smiled. “It’s great finally coming here. Last year’s owner was kind of a punk from what I remember… He liked to torment us fourth-graders, too. Glad he’s gone. I think his name was… Rad Con? Wait, no. That was his nickname. Um… Conrad! Conrad Baker. Okay. Anyway, follow me.”

           As Wessy led him to the basketball court, Jace Baker thought about that name. Why does it sound so familiar? Then it came to him, and he felt stupid. Oh. Obviously.

           It was late at night when Wes revealed the next step. Jace was still dreading what it could be, and his eyes darted feverishly between his iPhone’s photo albums and The Late Show, playing at a low volume on the TV as David Letterman went down another top ten list. But Wes didn’t seem worried at all, despite being so steadfast with his plan.

           There he was, chilling on his end of the couch, listening to something from his iPad with a blissful smile. Until Jace lost his patience and yanked his earbuds out.

           “Hey, man! I’m listening to some good stuff here.”

           “What stuff?” Jace asked as some weird music came out of the tiny speakers.

           “Vaporwave.” He showed off the album art, of a pink neon sign in night rain and an apartment window offering a view of an old TV in a kid’s bedroom. “It started as a bit of an internet joke. Then it got good. Now I kind of unironically like it. It’s like audio nostalgia; certain songs adjusted to invoke 80s and 90s… aesthetics, echoes… feelings.”

           “Okay, but what am I supposed to do tomorrow? To earn Wessy’s respect?”

           Wes paused the music and took a breath. “I’ve been thinking about that, and I know what you gotta do. Chances are, Wessy’s about to challenge you to a competition with someone in his crew. If you don’t pick someone, he will, and that could be bad. So, listen, when this happens—and it’ll probably happen really soon—ask to ‘battle’ Jared.”

           “Jared the Jerk? Why do I have to face off with him?”

           “Look, I don’t think you’ll beat any of us. But you might actually come close with Jared. And it will give you a chance to take him down a notch. The most important thing is that you look confident when it’s your turn. Remember that word. Confidence. Even while looking like an idiot. That’s what young me really looks for in kids.

           “Despite your training, Arthur will easily beat you in TV trivia. Colin, in game trivia. Sadie will challenge you to a rap battle.” Wes saw Jace raise an eyebrow. “Yes, seriously. It’s how she impressed others. You have no chance. Also… I’ve seen how you are around girls. It won’t help your nerves. And Zach? Posing contest. Sounds lame, but he’ll destroy you. You can’t match his coolness levels. So that leaves Jared. Jared dances.”

           “He… dances. What makes you think I know anything about dancing?”

           “You’ve never heard the line, ‘anyone can dance?’” Wes put his earbuds back in. “Make stuff up, and look absolutely unashamed. Confidence wins the day. Don’t show it, and you turn yourself into a cringefest, and Wessy will feel it. That is how you lose.”

           Confidence. Jace let out a deep breath from the side of the basketball court, where his entire class—plus Zach—had gathered, as well as a few kids from other classes. If he was about to make a moron out of himself, he’d do so in front of a lot of his peers.

           Even so, he was starting to feel okay about that. Being from the future still gave him a sense of superiority, and hey, time could always be reset. He knew his uncle didn’t want to erase all of their progress so far, but it was an option. What did he have to lose? Jamie, Austin, Chad, and everyone else who saw his breakdowns weren’t here. He didn’t need to impress anyone, really. This was just a silly game. He was good at games.

           “Three minutes to the bell,” Arthur said, checking his watch as his sister stood close by and looked excited for some entertainment. “We gotta do this now, guys.”

           The warm breeze stopped, as if on cue. As waves of heat came off the asphalt and distorted the air, Wessy stepped onto the empty court and turned to the audience.

           “This is to determine if Jason Connor can join my crew or not!” he announced. “But I’m sure a lot of you just want to see a good old showdown. That’s cool, too. Jace! You gotta pick one of my friends to go up against, and they get to choose what you’ll be doing. You still have a chance even if you lose, but this is how Zach got in back in third grade after impressing ol’ Charlie. I’m looking for… something. But I can’t tell you what.”

           Jace looked at the group, all of them ready to go. But Jared looked especially menacing with his exaggerated smile. Now he wanted to choose him.

           “Jared,” he decided. “I’ll be taking down Jared today.”

           “Aw, you want to get back at me?” he scoffed. “Bad choice, new kid.”

           “All right. Jared it is,” Wessy confirmed it. “Gerald, you’re up. Um, please.”

           “Tch, man…” Jace could overhear Sadie mumbling to Colin. “I had some good new insults I wanted to try… Guess I’ll have to use ’em on you sometime, Colin.”

           “Please don’t, Sadie. You know you’ll just end up hurting my feelings.”

           “You take things way too personally! Rap is just poetry in motion.”

           Jace watched a curly-haired boy with a friendly disposition from his class walk towards the middle of the court, and asked Ash, “Um, who’s that kid again?”

           “You haven’t met Gerald yet? He’s the nicest guy around! Everyone likes him, so he makes a good meditator. Um… I mean, mediator, I think is the word. Like a judge?”

           So, Gerald would determine who won. Luckily, Jace felt no pressure to win.

           “Hi, everyone!” Gerald said once he was in place. “Today we’re having our first showdown of the year! This is… Um, it’s a dance-off between Jared Reiner and Jason Connor. Both have one minute to show off their moves. Let’s have a clean contest!”

           As Jared headed over to the court, he turned to Wes. “Remember our standards, ‘Wessy.’ If he can’t make the cut, we don’t let him in just ’cause you like him so much.”

           Wes sighed, crossed his arms, and replied, “Shut up and dance, J.”

           Gerald stepped back as Carson ran up, set his player and headphones down on the court, and blasted the audio. The music coming out wasn’t very audible past its beats and lower notes, but it at least provided a needed tempo that could be danced to.

           Jared loosened up, bouncing on his feet and wriggling his arms, while Gerald waited for a signal from Arthur, who was prepping his watch’s stopwatch function.

           The audience hushed the moment Gerald raised and dropped an arm, and Jared went right into his sequence of move-busting. Jace watched and studied carefully.

           He wasn’t too familiar with dance moves, but he could tell that Jared… was not that great. There probably weren’t many watching that danced that well themselves, if at all, so they might’ve been easily impressed by any showing better than flailing about.

           Sure, he matched the beats, but he seemed to be phoning it in. A few arm swings here, a leg kick or sweep there, some spins, and even a brief interlude where he kicked like a Russian for some reason. It wasn’t messy, but he also didn’t seem to be having fun. Maybe he didn’t see Jace as a threat, and had simply pulled out his practiced move list.

           Despite that, at thirty seconds, the audience started to clap to the beat and cheer him on, and his intensity picked up a little. He also began punching the air, and kicking invisible bad guys; it looked like he had unchecked aggressions on top of his insecurities.

           When his minute ended, he finished with a large, fast spreading of his arms, as if to mimic an explosion going off. Most of the audience cheered, but it was a fairly tepid response. Jared looked pleased with his performance and returned to Wes’ side.

           “Okay,” Wes said. “Your turn, Jason. Just do your best!”

           “I like a good laugh,” Jared said, catching his breath. “So will everyone else!”

           Unfazed, Jace went up and waited for Arthur’s signal. The eyes of his class were on him. Most knew nothing about Jason Connor—and they could never know too much. At some point, he’d have to disappear as quickly and mysteriously as he had emerged.

           But, for now, it was time to earn his uncle’s respect for the first time, whatever his age. Carson reset the track and left the dance floor. The moment Arthur brought his arm down, Jace got right into it. He really got into it, as if the dance was a final boss.

           Closer to the music, Jace was able to hear some of it. He guessed that it was from the early 90s, and appropriately, the song sounded like kids were hip-hopping about a playground. It had a good dancing beat, and was fast—but not too fast.

           He had grown up on rhythm and timing with some help from video games. In fact, he saw his moves as little more than big versions of careful and precise swipes on his tablet; the kind he needed to win duels and battles in his beloved Galaxy Kingdom.

           Sure, they laughed at first—Jared especially—as Jace robotted, moonwalked, and hammer-timed, all while mixing in whatever else he had seen on MTV. He hated being a joke, but he stayed confident. He only needed to change the laughing at to laughing with.

           By the time he hit the thirtieth second, all the chortling had morphed to apparent enjoyment, possibly even amazement, and the claps were louder than those Jared had received. He finished it all by flashing a peace sign high above his head. Not once had he shown embarrassment. Circus clowns knew what they were doing, and were proud of it.

           The bell rang on the big finish, and as he caught his breath, cheers filtered into his ears. Wessy was clapping, too. Jared looked at the audience, confused. Jace wasn’t sure why they loved his performance, either. He hadn’t expected to win over everyone.

           He also noticed Park looking around, before sneaking off suspiciously. Millie was taking more notes. Carson gathered his player and gave Jace a thumbs up. Most of the kids were still clapping by the time Gerald made the decisive announcement.

           “Winner is Jason!” And as they all began to rush back inside together before the monitor got on their case, he told him personally, “That was fun to watch. Good job!”

           Wessy’s group, minus a sulking Jared, caught up, each recovering from a laughing fit. Wessy was especially pleased, and again wrapped an arm around Jace’s shoulders.

           “That was awesome!” Zach said. “Jared’s good, but his routine is so predictable!”

           “Oooh, he looks ticked,” Sadie added. “But don’t worry. He’ll get over it.”

           “Jason, that was the weirdest dance I’ve ever seen!” Wessy added. “And I loved it! Oh, man, I could never go up there and do what you did without panicking.”

           Jace beamed. He felt like he had just unlocked a game’s toughest achievement.

           By the time the year’s first visit to the computer lab rolled around a couple of classes later, the commotion around the dance-off had mostly run its course, though almost everyone seemed to have the need to at least say hi to Jace; or at most, tell him they had never laughed harder at school—and that was a good thing.

           His pride and ego tarnished, Jared had kept quiet following recess, but Wes also assured the victor that “J” had powered through similar losses before, and given time, he would accept Jace as part of the group and stop being a “total dick.” It was still hard to tell if that would be the case in the media center, though. Whatever kept Jared occupied at his station, he barely had the motivation to tap or click his keyboard and mouse.

           The lab monitor, an older man with the unfortunate name of Mr. Huggins, kept the class quiet, but otherwise encouraged them to play whatever educational application or game they wanted on their Macintosh Performa computers. The antiquated Apple operating system lacked the features that Jace was used to from his mom’s iMac, but he quickly adapted and was soon blazing along, demoing game after game from the library.

           Eventually, Mr. Huggins needed a bathroom break, and foolishly entrusted the kids to behave well in his absence. Still, while there was a noticeable uptick in the chatter level, most of those who now had the run of the place remained in their seats. But not Jace. He had been watching Park through the gaps between monitors, a few rows ahead.

           His hoodie was up, and his eyes had an intense look to them as he worked both diligently and suspiciously on… something. He looked like the main hacker character from that Mr. Robot show his uncle sometimes watched when he visited. At one point, his eyes caught Jace’s, and he reacted by adjusting his position so he was no longer in view.

           The afterglow of victory was replaced by a familiar feeling of paranoia, and Jace knew he should take this chance to find out a few things about the local merchant and let him know that he was onto him—and was unafraid of his late-night dress ups.

           He got up and walked past several desks, getting a peek at screens on the way. Willa was happily covering her Kid Pix Studio artistic canvas in cat stamps, Brian was making full-color pixel characters in a different art program, and he caught a glimpse of Felicity’s own creation before she minimized it and glared at him until he left. Whatever it was she was making included a lot of red colors and a knife or two. She must’ve kept Huggins from seeing her art whenever he passed, to avoid being sent to the principal’s.

           Park whispered something to the person next to him as Jace approached, and once he had rounded the desk corner, Hoodie Boy covered up his screen. Jace didn’t care about that yet—he was just surprised to see Wessy sitting next to him, and from the nervous little expression on his face, he seemed to be involved in this conspiracy.

           “Yo, Jace… We’re kinda working on a… surprise for you here,” Wes explained.

           Now completely unable to confront Park like he had wanted to, Jace switched to inquisitive mode and replied, “I didn’t know you hung out with Park, Wes…”

           “Sometimes. I mean, he’s cool, I guess. But again, we’re working on something.”

           “You don’t belong here,” Millie abruptly said from the nearby desk behind them, facing the opposite direction. She turned in her chair and added, “You really don’t.”

           Having no idea what she was on about, Jace could only get out, “Huh?”

           The girl detective on Millie’s screen idled near a lovely pixel backdrop of a bike shop. Jace knew of the game: Eagle Eye Mysteries. It was about solving petty youth crimes in a small town, and involved lots of note taking; it would be right up her alley.

           Next to Millie was the last student in Jace’s class he’d yet to really observe in any capacity: a girl named December who had long brown hair and freckles. Unlike everyone else, she seemed to be poking around in system files instead of playing anything.

           “There’s something really weird about you, Jason.” Millie nudged her glasses. “I don’t like Jared, but I get why he distrusts you. We might be the only two who see it.”

           “Why are you so bizarre, Millie?” Wes said from his side. “What’s so weird about our buddy Jason? What, never spied on a kid who left a mark by his second day?”

           She rolled her eyes, sighed, went back to her game, and muttered, “You’ll all see. At some point… he’s gonna bring something big down on this school.”

           “Tch, man, I have no idea what her problem is with you,” Wessy huffed.

           “But you guys don’t have a problem with me, right?” Jace asked.

           “No! You’re already one of the coolest kids at DTE in my book. Do all Miller guys dance like you?” He laughed, and mimicked a few of his moves with his arms.

           “And you don’t have a problem either, right… Park?”

           Still covering his screen, Park shook his head—a little anxiously. Jace realized he was being a tad intimidating, so he backed off, smiled, and rubbed the back of his neck.

           “Good! I don’t want to be treated differently or badly just ’cause I’m new.”

           “… Aw, heck,” Wessy sighed. “Park, just show him what we’re working on.”

           “Are you sure?”

           “Yeah, I guess. I mean, he should probably be a part of it, anyway.”

           “Aw. All right…” Park muttered and moved his arms to uncover the ‘project.’

           Jace swallowed a laugh. It turned out Park was a decent artist. On the screen was a drawing of the end of the dance, with Jace flashing the peace sign and looking upward in glory, and towards the big, bold, stylized words “DANCIN’ J. CONNOR.”

           “Oh, God,” he exclaimed and a chuckle escaped. “Is this gonna be a meme?”

           Wes and Park looked at each other, and then at Jace, and Park asked, “A what?”

           Oh, right. Jace had done well with limiting his anachronisms, but still made small mistakes now and then. He kind of envied these kids for not knowing about memes.

           “Um, that’s what we called an inside joke at my old school,” he explained. “One that usually… involves a picture and text. And then lasts for pretty much a year.”

           “Hm. Well, I knew your dance would be one of the epic moments of fifth grade. And I’ve been known to… what’s the word dad likes? Capitalize? Y-yeah. I do that. I’m not ashamed of it. Hey, if we want to celebrate and hold onto something, I can help.”

           “Park’s dad runs a printing store,” Wessy said. “He can do bumper stickers and banners and even t-shirts; all sorts of cool stuff. He showed me his ‘stash’ there once.”

           “But I’m not going that big!” Park promised. “Buttons. I’m gonna use his button press with this picture and sell ’em for a buck each. You get one for free, of course! And a cut of the profits. I mean… if that’s okay. He makes me get permission first.”

           Wow, Jace thought. That’s the coolest thing anyone’s done for me at school. But would his uncle approve? He did want him to keep a low profile when possible, and if there were buttons that might be worn by some in the class all year, that probably went against such a goal. But… buttons! With me on them, celebrating my existence! How was it possible that he had garnered more respect from his peers in one day than he had all year back home?

           “Okay,” Jace said excitedly. “That sounds awesome.”

           “All right. Cool. We could make a small killing off these babies.”

           “Just don’t tell anyone yet,” Wessy added. “It’s still supposed to be a surprise.”

           As he looked around to see if the lab monitor had come back in yet, Jace spotted Colin, a couple rows away, sitting next to an empty chair and waiting for something.

           “Hey, I think Colin… Is he looking for you?” Jace mentioned.

           “Yeah, we’re supposed to be playing a game together. Uh, he can wait.”

           Colin wasn’t in a waiting mood. He got up and walked over skittishly. Jace could tell he didn’t like to be left alone for long; he felt lost without a friend nearby to follow.

           “Wes, what are you doing?” he asked as Park covered up the screen again. “I thought we were gonna do some two-player stuff.”

           “Sorry, buddy. I got distracted by Park’s new project… I’ll be there soon.”

           “It might not matter now. I got bored and tried to play something off a CD… But it’s making weird spinning noises and I think I broke the computer.”

           “You know you have bad luck with computers. Just ask December to fix it.”

           “D-December?” he replied nervously. “Can’t you…”

           “Dude, she’s the smartest kid in class and is a computer whiz. Stop being so weird around her and just ask for help. She’ll gladly do it.”

           Colin gulped but nodded, and Jace watched as he went up and awkwardly tapped on her shoulder. She kept a placid expression, but got right up and went with Colin after he stammered out his problem. She was almost the tallest girl in class, just a little shorter than Delilah, and had four inches on the boy who must’ve had some feelings for her.

           Curious, Jace said his goodbyes to Park and Wes—who sent him off with their own peace signs. He then hovered near Colin, who was getting the help he needed.

           “That ‘grinding’ noise means you put the CD in wrong,” December said as he watched her open the CD tray with a keyboard key from the back of his seat. “See?”

           The disc was upside down; the laser was trying to read its label. She poked her finger through the center hole, flipped the CD, put it back in, and pushed the tray close.

           “So, do you also need help installing Warcraft? You… brought it over from your house, didn’t you?” she asked with a coy smile. “The school wouldn’t have the game.”

           Colin nodded shakily. “Y-yeah… It doesn’t run so good on my old computer.”

           “Fine. But I get to try it for a few minutes first. It’s one of my favorites.”

           He was okay with letting her slaughter some orcs, and contentedly observed as his new lab partner worked her magic. Seeing that Mr. Huggins was coming back, Jace returned to his seat and started Lemmings. As he guided dimwitted green-haired creatures to salvation, he gave a passing thought to what he just started with Colin and December.

           Back at The Flamingo, where Millie gave him the stink eye before he closed the door and she went to her place, Jace came home to an otherwise clean living room, save for the two white and red Target bags on the floor. It looked like Wes had just finished hooking up another SNES, which already had a game inserted.

           “Jace! Surprise!” he exclaimed. “We finally have enough income rolling in, so I went out and rented a Super Nintendo again. Oh, and I bought Chrono Trigger, too. You have to play through it. It’s about time traveling, and a time machine, and castles, magic, a dystopian sci-fi future, and it all revolves around a big, Earth-eating space demon.”

           “Heard about that from Brian today…” Jace said and pulled out his homework from his backpack. He tossed it on the coffee table and fell onto the couch. “Got actual homework, too. I didn’t forget your promise. That junk is all you.”

           “Yeah, yeah. I’ll do it. Well, I’ll give you the answers. You still gotta do the whole handwriting thing yourself. So, anything cool happen at school? You met Brian, huh?”

           “You have no idea…” He rolled over on the old leather. “I mean… The Dump? That’s where your generation went to have fun at recess?”

           “Oh, man, The Dump! If you heard about it for years, you’d want to go when it was your turn, too. If it didn’t exist and some kid just said ‘hey, let’s hang out by the dumpster,’ then yeah, that wouldn’t be attractive. Expectations make all the difference.”

           “What ended up happening to it?”

           “Colin told me in tenth grade that it got shut down; someone squealed. Had to happen eventually. I think that spot got renovated, and the principal parks there now.”

           Jace twisted his head around, looked at Wes, and stated, “I beat Jared.”

           “You beat… Wait. You actually won the showdown?”

           “Yeah. I danced. I felt really stupid doing it, but… I guess I didn’t care.”

           “You beat…” Wes started laughing. “Oh. Oh, man. I wish I could’ve seen that.”

           “You did. You thought it was awesome. And then you and Park made buttons.”

           “Huh. Really now. I wonder if I’ll remember that day differently when we go back to 2020. If that’s how any of this works… Who did you say made buttons?”

           “That shady kid who sells junk, Hoodie Boy. You helped him instead of playing a game with Colin. It’s gonna have me flashing a peace sign and everything.”

           “Uh, crap… I hope that doesn’t screw with stuff. Low profile, remember?”

           “Not my fault,” Jace said with a horizontal shrug. He then sat up on the couch and yawned. “They just started doing it on their own. Point is, whatever happened on the original day is all changed now. Colin thought he broke his computer and got December to help him. The good-with-computers girl? Could… that mean anything?”

           Wes thought. “Colin had a thing for her at that age. But she went to a private school for middle, being smart and everything. He can’t follow her there. If anything, maybe she’ll give him a confidence boost. Kid could always use one. He’s still single in the present. Not that I’m any better. What about your glitch? That still popping up?”

           “Not really. Like, in the computer lab, I could feel the mouse jitter back and forth just a little, but that’s pretty much it. Guess it’s wearing off.”

           “Yeah… Well. If you got in with Wessy’s crew…”

           “I might’ve just gotten Jared got kicked out.”

           “He mad, bro?” Wes said jokingly. “Nah, don’t worry about him. Kid always ate a sour grape whenever he lost at something, but he’ll come out of it. I was going to say, I would expect a sleepover invite sometime soon. You, Wessy, Arty, Colin, and Jared.”

           “As long as there’s pizza and late-night movies… I guess that’s okay.”

           “And you’ll get to see my childhood house! Hey. Is something else up?”

           “I… heard that my dad ‘owned’ The Dump in the 94-95 school year.”

           “Oh.” Wes went over to turn on the TV. “Right. ‘Rad Con.’ Terrible nickname. He tried too hard to compensate for his dorky real one. You know how I feel about your old man, so I won’t go there. He’s in sixth grade, so I don’t think you two will meet, but just in case…” Wes turned back to him and put on his serious face. “Don’t interact. Mom’s bad enough, but any butterfly effects brought onto ‘Papa’ puts your existence in serious jeopardy. If it didn’t… I’d gladly smack his eleven-year-old face.”

           “You’re saying I’ll disappear even if I just breathe on him? Why’s that?”

           “Uh. Biology. I’ll tell you when you’re older. Anyway.” Wes turned on the SNES, and after watching the game open on a swinging pendulum, handed Jace the controller. “I got one more chore to run. While I’m gone, play the heck out of this.”

           Jace grabbed it. “You’re always sneaking off to do mysterious stuff, Unk.”

           “Hey, it’s the adult’s job to keep the vacation going smoothly,” he said and headed out, leaving Jace with a game that both Wes and Brian held in high regard.

           At four in the afternoon, under a hot, quiet, and windless sky, Wes made it to the top of the two-story building across from his apartment. He had stopped into the thrift store he had borrowed power from earlier to pick up a cheap old backpack, but also happened to coincidentally find a replacement antenna as well, saving him a run to a local radio and electronics store. After shelling out fifty bucks for some hardware, he didn’t feel so bad about using the store’s electricity again. This time, it would be from the rooftop, where he had more options in directing and hiding the antenna.

           After climbing the rusting fire escape stairs to the top, he set his backpack full of equipment down and had a look around as the sun beat down on him. On the other side of the street, he could actually see the current owner of his home out front, on a lawn chair drinking what was probably a beer—shotgun nowhere in sight.

           Near the access hatch was an outlet where burnt-out old Christmas lights were plugged in, which he swapped for his equipment. He ran an extension cord across the roof’s siding, and hid the antenna and recording box between a large dead potted plant and the loud HVAC unit. Once everything was set up and running again, he stood to admire his work, hoping it would last longer this time.

           He had even decided to let it record, just to defy whatever denied his efforts last time. It was possible Jace wasn’t currently interested in going home at the moment in any case, since he had just picked up a bunch of new friends and had been complaining less and less about the time trip recently. Wes was also now genuinely curious himself if the time portal would emerge again before its assumed reappearance date.

           Meanwhile, in an event lasting around just ten seconds, a tiny pitch-black tear in space ripped open some twenty feet behind him. Out of it slithered floating tentacles of sharp geometry, bending at abrupt angles as they writhed in place. Composed of tar-like magnetic ferrofluid, they felt around to measure their surroundings, and then worked together to bend two of their longer tendrils into the form of a diamond.

           White energy filled the shape, and what could be called an eye was created in that space. It lacked a pupil, but it did manifest a brighter “iris” in the middle of a field of dancing static, resembling a camera aperture. During the strange thing’s brief visit to the place and time, it focused on Wes, and committed his silhouette to memory. And then it, and the small portal it had come from, promptly vanished and returned to a void.